What do carpenters like more than working on a great project? Working for a great cause. Saturday, September 20, 2014 the Fine Remodel crew converged on the Highland home of a young family with a heavy burden. Their daughter, a 6 year old girl with a bright smile, is battling Leukemia. Through the Make-A-Wish foundation and the Salt Lake Home Builders Association, we were able to find out about this amazing child and her dream. She had a playhouse in her back yard and like any child with an imagination it was her palace, her Hobbit hole, her unicorn stable and many other things, depending on the fairy tale of the day. But it wasn’t complete. Every great imagination can only work with what they had, so, she needed more to work with. Through the HBA a design was created to provide an arched foot bridge out the front of the playhouse. Obviously every good fairy tale needs a place to hide the trolls, and what better place than under a foot bridge. Plus, Cinderella did NOT lose her glass slipper in the grass, but on the magnificent entrance to the palace. Along with the bridge the playhouse needed protection from the likes of Captain Hook and the Sherriff of Nottingham. What better way to protect the house of fair maidens than with a crenelated balcony. Not only could the imaginary archers hold back the armies of Maleficent from the balcony, but it also provided a great bit of shade for tea parties and wedding processions across the bridge. Also, someday, when Romeo stops playing with his G.I. Joe’s and toy swords, he would need somewhere to stand below and swoon over Juliet, and Juliet definitely needs a place to watch him from.

With materials donated from a local business the Fine Remodel team spent a glorious Saturday morning building the structure to help this wonderful girl lose herself in her imagination on those days when the battle seems hardest. Others will come and put the finishing touches on the masterpiece, but it was our opportunity to do something great. Building is what we do. It is in our blood. Many of us have been doing this for years but it never gets old seeing something magical come together. It was a privilege to donate our time and talents to one whose battle we cannot comprehend. Hopefully, many fairy tales will come true for her and when that battle gets a little hard, she can slip out to her perch on the balcony for an afternoon nap with Winnie the Pooh, or hide under the bridge as the wicked step sisters searched for her. Wherever her imagination takes her, hopefully our small part will make that trip more enjoyable.